BRAIN DRAIN Definition & Meaning

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brain drain

or ��-��

noun

a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.

brain drain

noun

informal.
the emigration of scientists, technologists, academics, etc, for better pay, equipment, or conditions

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of brain drain¹

First recorded in 1960–65

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Idioms and Phrases

The departure of educated or talented persons for better pay or jobs elsewhere, as in The repression of free speech in Germany triggered a brain drain to Britain and America . The term originated about 1960, when many British scientists and intellectuals emigrated to the United States for a better working climate.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

People have been talking about a brain drain.

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The county off the coast of north-west Wales has seen one of the UK's sharpest birth-rate drops and "concerned" islanders are figuring out how to stop their "brain drain".

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Musk’s layoffs are also likely to produce a massive brain drain, driving talented managers out of the civil service and discouraging young people from joining.

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Games industry layoffs and studio closures in the West and Europe have led to fears of "brain drain" - a loss of knowledge as people leave companies or even look for work in different fields.

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Trump’s actions threaten to trigger a brain drain from the U.S., as researchers in important laboratories have begun looking for jobs abroad or started to field recruitment offers.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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